Take Stock

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In: Budget Beauty & Living, Personal Finance 101

 ***This post contains an affiliate link. <3 from the Dames*** In order to make a plan to get out of debt, we need to know where to start. So we’ve already discussed taking a good hard look at my finances and determining what to focus on, now it’s time to get organized. This week I’m going to take stock of my assets.    No, no, it’s not like that – promise! I just finished reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and that really served as the source of inspiration for this purge. I need a space that helps me maintain focus,Read More →

Liebster Award

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Man, it’s been a whirlwind of fun since we started this blog two months ago. We went from a free, WordPress.com blog to a self-hosted blog. We made a Dames in Debt Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We’ve been writing a lot! AND…we got nominated for our first blogging award!   The Liebster Award We were nominated for The Liebster Award from Kumiko over at The Budget Mom, and we couldn’t be more excited and honored. The award is a way to be discovered but also to connect and support the blogging community. Originally it was given out to blogs with less than 2000 readers, but thisRead More →

budget travel

How to Travel Comfortably on a Budget

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In: Budget Beauty & Living

  Hello fellow humans! I’m writing this today from 35,000 feet up as I speed over your heads around 500 miles per hour. Fun! Or is it? In general I’m of the camp that flying sucks. It’s freaking expensive, and everyone is crammed into a confined space for 5+ hours with 2 toilets and 18 crying babies on board. Eww, right? But there are a few things you can do to make air travel a little more budget friendly and definitely up your comfort level. Tickets and hotels are usually the most expensive part of the trip. To save some cash book tickets more thanRead More →

Yakezie challenge

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When my sister and I first started our blog, we wanted to create a place where we could journal our way through debt repayment. We wanted somewhere to chronicle all the ups and downs that come with being swamped with debt and trying to pay it all off…while also being twenty-somethings. We also wanted people to read our stories. Because of all of this, we’ve decided to join the Yakezie Challenge. So, we joined something that sounds bizarre, and now we have a fun Yakezie badge on our site. What’s changing you might wonder? Absolutely nothing. This blog will still be two sisters living theRead More →

We Tried It

We Tried It: Coconut Oil

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In: Budget Beauty & Living

***This post contains an affiliate link. <3 from the Dames*** We Dames have been a little heavy lately, so today’s post topic is a little lighter and fun and introduces a new series we will be working on: budget beauty and house tips! Today we tackle the magic that is coconut oil. Let’s get started! From my Taking Stock series, Part One and Part Two, you know that I went through all of my possessions Marie Kondo style. When I hit the bathroom I was surprised at how many items I had in there. Now I’m not that into makeup or hair appliances or nailRead More →

budget basics

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In: Personal Finance 101

Becoming  a millionaire is so passé these days, becoming a billionaire is the new goal. Or …maybe it’s being able to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. If you are anything like me, you got pretty excited when you signed your first job offer letter. That yearly salary sounds like more money than you’ll ever need, until of course, you crunch the numbers and realize you have a discretionary budget of $12.50 per month. Now that you’ve figured out your debt and made smart money goals, it’s time to get down to brass tacks and tame your transactions. It’s time to make a budget. So, where to start? Many well-known, financialRead More →

This is Your Life on Debt

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In: Debt Repayment, Personal Finance 101

Remember all of those “This is your brain on drugs” PSAs that ran in the ’90s? Well, consider this your debt wake-up call. Debt is bad, and it’s bad for your finances. To understand just how bad debt is, think of it like you would a smoking habit – costly, definitely not “cool”, and seriously expensive.   The average U.S. household with debt carries $15,762 in credit card debt and $130,922 in total debt. (Courtesy of Nerd Wallet) While some of this may be related to poor spending decisions or eating out too much, not all of this debt is from reckless spending. More Americans than ever areRead More →

affordable housing

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In: Personal Finance 101, Saving Money

Finding a new apartment can be daunting. I know, I’ve done it about 6 times way too many. So since I just got my new place (and hopefully won’t be moving again for awhile), I thought it would be a great time to share how I find affordable housing in LA for cheap. First, let’s talk about rent. Rent is way too expensive everywhere, but especially in LA. Thanks to record keeping in Mint, I can see how much I paid for rent, and in the last 12 months, I have spent over $12,000 on rent. Oof! And I had a decently priced apartment forRead More →

How to Spend $40/Week on Groceries

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In: Saving Money

As you heard last week, I’m seriously cutting down on my food expenditures. My total food spending for March was around $750…ouch, so you can see why this needs to happen. I started my 5 food budget steps this past week, and things are going pretty good, but let’s get down to the actual numbers. My new monthly food budget is $300. I get $40/month for my weekly lunch out, $20 /month for my weekly treat, and $80/month for my weekly date night. This leaves $160 for groceries, meaning I’ll be trying to stay under $40/week. Hopefully this new arrangement is reflected in my foodRead More →

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In: Uncategorized

Hello there friends! Is it just me or does it seem like all the s#!t just hits the fan at once? Since 2016 started it seems like everyone around me has gone through at least one major life transition and/or struggle. Life is hard sometimes for sure.   But, today’s post isn’t about complaining about how hard things are. Today’s post is a reminder that you can and will get through whatever struggle you are presented with.  Read More →